Adjustable door roller construction



United States Patent 3,386,208 ADJUSTABLE DOOR ROLLER CONSTRUCTIGN Joseph Banner, Whittier, Calif., assignor to Anjac Manufacturing Co., El Monte, Calif., a limited partnership Filed May 10, 1966, Ser. No. 548,889

7 Ciaims. (Cl. 49-420) ABSTRACT OF THE DHSCLOSURE An adjustable door roller construction is disclosed which has a spring mounted roller structure located in the bottom rail of the door, a corner bracket located in the bottom rail of the door, a corner bracket located in the bottom rail of the door, a stop level pivotally mounted on the bracket, and a horizontal adjusting screw threaded into the bracket. By manipulation of the adjusting screw the position of the stop lever can be adjusted so as to limit movement of the roller structure.

This invention is directed to an adjustable door roller construction, which construction is particularly adapted to maintain sliding door rollers upon their tracks.

Sliding doors, and particularly sliding screen doors are well known to jump their tracks. These doors are usually provided with fixed bottom rollers. These rollers engage upon a track which is fixed to the door frame. In normal usage, these rollers roll back and forth along the track as the door is opened and closed. However, some doors, and particularly sliding screen doors, are light. Thus, there is little weight load upon the bottom rollers. Then, when such a sliding door is forcibly moved, the door may raise and lift one of the rollers off of the track. Such is quite objectionable in the operation of such doors.

In some of such doors spring loaded adjustable rollers have been used. However, this mechanism has required an adjustment screw which is visible, in the way and subject to catching. Furthermore, other of such mechanisms are unduly complex and expensive to thus unproportionately raise the cost of such a sliding screen door.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple, economic spring loaded bottom door roller construction for sliding doors, which construction is simple and in which the components of the construction are hidden within the door.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable door roller construction which provides for an adjustable stop which is incorporated into the door construction.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an adjustable door roller construction which is economic, simple of construction and with a minimum number of parts, easily removable and replaceable when damaged or worn, the construction being reliable, easily adjusted and free of maintenance.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following portion of this specification, the claims and the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a sliding door incorporating the adjustable door roller construction of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the construction of FIG. 1, with parts broken away; and

FIG. 3 is a section taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

As an aid to understanding this invention it can be stated in essentially summary form that it is directed to an adjustable door roller construction. The door in which the door roller construction is employed comprises a Patented June 4, 1968 ice rectangular hollow section as the structural elements. At the corner junction between two of such sections, a corner bracket secures the sections together by engagement within the hollow portion thereof. This corner bracket carries both a pivoted adjustable stop and an adjustment screw which adjusts the stop. Furthermore, a roller is spring mounted to extend out of one of the sections. Its spring is secured to prevent longitudinal movement of the spring and roller combination along that section. The pivoted stop is in line with roller motion upon its spring. Thus, adjustment of the adjustable stop by means of the screw in the corner bracket controls the limit position of the spring mounted roller.

This invention will be understood in greater detail by reference to the following portion of this specification wherein the drawings are described. The sliding door in which the adjustable door roller construction of this invention is installed is generally shown at 10. The adjustable door roller construction of this invention is most useful when the door it is of light construction, for such doors are more likely to come of]? of the track. Thus, the door 10 is illustrated as being a screen door. The door 19 has a top rail 12, a bottom rail 14, left upright 16 and right upright 18. The rails and uprights are beveled at their corners and are secured together so as to form the rectangular door. Screen 20 is appropriately stretched between the rails and uprights so as to complete the door.

Each of the uprights and rails i formed with an inside flange 22, and outside flange 24 and webs 26 and 28 interconnecting the flanges. The web 28 is spaced away from the outer edges of flanges 22 and 24 so as to define an outwardly directed channel around the edge of the door 10. Mounted upon the webs 26 of each of the uprights and rails is screen retainer 30, which retains the screen 29 around the edges of the door by means of an inserted bead 32. The rails and uprights are retained with respect to each other by means of corner brackets, one of which is illustrated at 3'4. The corner brackets enter into the rectangular space between the webs and flanges so as to maintain the rails and uprights in proper corner relationship.

Door 10 is provided with upper guidance means which may be rollers 36 and 38 or may be appropriate frictional track guidance means. In any event the rollers 36 or 38, or other optional structure, permit some upper motion of the door 10, which motion is required due to dimensional changes due to temperature differences, and due to sagging caused by settlement. Desirably, the rollers 36 and 38 are preferably spring loaded in the upward direction, but are not a part of this invention. Furthermore, door 18 is supported upon bottom rollers 40 and 42. Roller 42 and its mounting structure are shown in more detail in FIGS 2 and 3, and roller 4t) and its associated construction are identical to the roller 42 and its associated construction.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixed track which is secured to a stationary part of the house or door frame is indicated at 44. The track has an upstanding flange 46 which serves for actual guidance. Roller 42 has roller flanges 43 and 50 which engage over the sides of flange 46 for door guidance. While the roller 42 can have a single flange engaged in a track recess, the construction shown in FIG. 3 is preferred, for in such construction dirt cannot fill up a recessed track.

As is best seen in FIG. 2, the outer Web 28 has an opening therein which defines an opening 52 between the inside and outside flanges 22 and 24. Thus, to the extent of opening 52, the inner rectangular space is open to the outwardly directed channel. It is to the opening 52 that roller 42 extends. Yoke 54 is formed in generally inverted U-shape, and has downwardly extending arms 56 and 58.

The arms have aligned bearing openings 60 therein, and shaft 62 engages in these openings so as to rotatably support roller 4-2. The shaft 62 can either be integrally formed with the roller 42 so as to simply present a stub shaft extending from each side, or may be separately formed, as shown, with the roller 42 mounted thereon. The upper cross bar 6 of yoke 54 connects the two arms 56 and 58. Flat metal spring 66 has its outer end engaged beneath cross bar 64 and arms 56 and 58 are crimped under the spring 66 at 58 to maintain the yoke upon the end of the spring. Spring 66 has bends 70 positioned within the rectangular space in the interior of bottom rail 14. The bends 70 are sufficient, in view of the resiliency of spring 66, to provide desired stroke and the desired downward force of roller 42. Three such bends are illustrated, and more or less may be used depending upon the spring dimensions and the character of the spring metal.

The retained end of spring 66 has a hole 72 therein. Similarly, web 26 has hole 74 therein. Button 76 has appropriate projections thereon to engage in the holes '72 and 74 and an enlarged portion therebetween so that the button 76 is retained between spring 66 and web 26. The upward force of the restrained end of spring 66 retains the button in place and retains the spring upon the button. Thus, the entire spring is retained in place and roller 42 is constrained to the path of motion permitted by the spring. The spring is stressed so that the roller 42 is urged downwardly as seen in FIG. 2. Thus, the roller 4-2 can follow the track 44, should the door It be raised by inadvertent motion.

The corner brackets which maintain the rails and uprights in association, and of which corner bracket 34 is illustrated in detail, provide stop structure which limits the upward motion of roller 42. The stop structure comprises adjusting screw 78 which is threaded through at least one web 80 and stop lever 82 which is pivoted on the corner bracket 34. Adjusting screw 78 has a screw head 84 which is accessible through opening 86 in web 28 of upright 18. In this position, the adjusting screw 78 is substantially hidden. Its head 84 is only seen by careful search for it. Therefore, it does not interfere with the otherwise trim appearance of the door it).

Pivot bearing 88 is formed as a cylindrical surface at the inner end of corner bracket 34 directed toward roller 42. The bearing surface 88 is more than hemi-cylindrical, but one side is opened and is directed toward the rollers, as is shown in FIG. 2. Stop lever 82 has a corresponding pivot pin 90 which is pivotable within bearing 38 and is attached to the remainder of stop lever 82 by web 92. The stop lever 82 also includes abutment 94 which extends over the bearing 88 in the path of screw '78. The stop lever also includes stop arm 96 which extends into the path of the movable structure of roller 42. As is seen in FIG. 2, screw 78 controls the rotative position of stop lever 82, and arm 96 On the lever controls the upward limit of motion of yoke 54 and roller 42 carried thereby. It is understood that the roller construction shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is applied to the door it) at least at the bottom two rollers 49 and 42,. However, it is also desirable to have the top rollers 36 and 3% adjustable similar to the bottom rollers, to take care of difference in the height of the opening.

In use, after the door tracks are applied to the door opening, adjusting screws 78 are backed out so as to permit maximum upward motion of the rollers 44) and 42 before they engage stop arm 96. Thereupon, the door is placed on its tracks by manual full deflection of both the top and the bottom rollers. Bottom clearance and squareness of the door within the opening is then adjusted by screwing in the adjusting screw 78. The screwing in of the screw '78 rotates the stop lever 82, as is seen in FIG. 2, in the counter-clockwise direction so as to lower stop arm 96. This causes raising of the door frame with respect to the tracks. When proper top and bottom clearance of the flanges 22 and 24 is obtained, the squareness of the door in the frame is obtained, adjustment is stopped. In this position, the weight of the door is partially taken up by the force created by deflection of spring 66, and the top of yoke 54 bears against the lower side of stop arm 96 to prevent further spring deflection. Thus, downward motion of the door is adjusted and limits it by the adjustment of screw '78 in the angular position of stop arm 82. However, should the door move upward, yoke 54 leaves stop arm 96 and spring 6:; causes roller 42 to follow the track, even if the door frame moves upward. Thus, the door rollers stay in engagement with the tracks to prevent the rollers from jumping off the track.

This invention having been described in its preferred embodiment, it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications and changes without the exercise of the inventive faculty, Accordingly, the scope of this invention is defined by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

ll. An adustable door roller construction, said adjustable door roller construction being adapted to be installed in a sliding door having space parallel flanges defining the bottom rail of the door, said adjustable door roller construction comprising:

a door roller structure positionable between said flanges and said bottom rail, said roller structure comprising a rotatable roller and a yoke rotatably mounting said roller, a spring having a free end and a fixed end, said free end of said spring being said secured to said yoke, said fixed end of said spring being securable to said door so that said roller is movable on a path substantially parallel to and between said flanges and is normally biased downwardly by said spring away from said door and said bottom rail;

a corner bracket insertable between said flanges, and horizontally extending adjustment screw threaded into said bracket, said adjustment screw having an abutment end and an adjustment end accessible through an end of said door, a stop lever pivotally mounted on said bracket so as to be capable of rotating between said flanges, said stop lever having an abutment engageable by said abutment end of said adjustment screw so that said adjustment screw limits the rotative position of said stop lever in said bearing, a stop arm on said stop lever, said stop arm being positioned on said path of travel of said roller structure, said stop arm being ongageable with said roller structure to limit the motion of said roller.

2. The adjustable door roller construction of claim 1 wherein said yoke comprises first and second arms and a cross bar interconnecting said arms, said arms pivotally carrying said roller, said free end of said spring being positioned adjacent said cross bar and between said arms, said arms securing said spring with respect to said yoke; and

wherein said stop arm engages upon said cross bar to limit the motion of said roller.

3. The adjustable door roller construction of claim 1 wherein said bearing surface in said bracket defines a bearing recess having a partially cylindrical interior surface, an open side on said bearing, said stop lever having a web and having a pivot pin on said web, said pivot pin being positioned within said bearing surface and said web extending out of said open side of said bearing so that said stop lever is rotatably limited by engagement of said stop lever web at the ends of said bearing openings.

4. The adjustable door roller construction of claim 1 wherein said bracket is a corner bracket, said corner bracket being adapted to be engaged within a door upright and a door cross rail so that said door roller is positionable within said cross rail adjacent the door upright.

5. The adjustable door roller construction of claim 1 wherein said fixed end of said spring is securable separately from said bracket.

6. A sliding screen door, said sliding screen door comprising:

first and second uprights and upper and lower cross rails, said uprights and rails forming the exterior edge frame of said sliding screen door, screen extending at least part way between said uprights and said rails, said uprights and said rails having inside and outside flanges and webs between said flanges, a screen retainer on said uprights and said rails, one of said webs being spaced inwardly from the outer edges of said flanges so as to form an outwardly directed channel, said uprights and said rails joining in corners, a corner bracket in each of said corners, said corner brackets being positioned within said rectangular opening defined by said uprights and said rails;

adjustable d-oor roller construction positioned at least partially within one of said cross rails, said adjustable door roller construction comprising a spring having a fixed end and a free end, said fixed end being fixed with respect to said cross rail flanges, roller structure positioned in said cross rail, said roller structure comprising a yoke having arms and a roller rotatively mounted with respect to said arms, said free end of said spring being fixed to said yoke so that said roller structure is constrained to a path of motion by said spring, an opening in said web of said cross rail, said roller being positioned so that said path of motion passes through said opening;

adjustable stop means for limiting the motion of said roller structure along said path of motion, said adjustable stop means comprising an adjustable stop screw threadedly engaged in said corner bracket, said stop screw having engaging means accessible through said outwardly directed channel, said stop screw having an abutment end adjustable positionable with respect to said corner bracket, a stop lever pivotally mounted on said corner bracket, said stop lever having an abutment engageable by said abutment end of said adjustment screw, said stop lever having a stop arm, said stop arm being positioned in the path of travel of said roller structure, so that said roller structure is limited in motion along its path of travel in a direction upwardly with respect to said door by said stop arm, said stop lever and said stop arm being pivotally adjustable by adjustment of said stop screw to change the limit of motion of said roller structure.

7. The adjustable door roller construction of claim 6 wherein said fixed end of said spring is fixed to said rail independently from said corner bracket and said adjustable stop means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,283,444 11/1966 Andres 16-105 XR 3,284,953 11/1966 Rifkin 4942O 3,299,575 1/1967 Du Shane 49-420 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Exarizincr. 

